I have been off DawnWatch for a few weeks and am so glad to be back. During the time I was in the Midwest, and then playing catch-up, we all heard about the attack of a chimpanzee named Travis on a woman named Charla Nash. The woman lost most of her face, including both eyes. Travis, an adolescent male who had been a television star as a toddler, was shot dead. He was cremated yesterday.

In Thanking the Monkey, in a section headed "Hollywood Tales," I describe a similar attack in 2003 in which a man lost most of his face, one of his feet, and his testicles, at the hands of two "retired" chimp actors. The section focuses on the plight of captive chimps used in the entertainment industry, such as Oliver the "Humanzee," who went from satin sheets to a vivisection laboratory. It is posted on line now at: http://www.thankingthemonkey.com/docs/HollywoodStories.pdf

The press coverage described the most recent attack as "unprovoked" and put it down to the unpredictability of wild animals. But closer reading tells us that Travis had intentionally escaped from the house in which he was imprisoned for most of his life, and his owner had called her friend, Nash, to help recapture him. The media have reported on the chimp's pampered lifestyle, but jail is jail, no matter how good the food or comfortable the beds. This adolescent had done nothing to deserve to be trapped in a house for life, with one being of a different species as his only companion. Given the women were trying to get him back into the place from which he had escaped, can we really call the attack unprovoked?

HSUS president Wayne Pacelle's blog, from February 17, gives us detailed information as to the tragedy of chimpanzee captivity. You'll find it on line at http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2009/02/chimp-attack.html
It tells us that Congress had a chance, last year, to address the issues with the Captive Primate Safety Act.

While it is now too late for Charla Nash and Travis, their fate has spurred momentum. The Captive Primate Safety Act passed the House this Tuesday, February 24. While the legislation would not literally prevent the keeping of primates as pets -- that is a state level issue -- it would federally ban their interstate transfer, which would stymie that industry.

The Wednesday, February 25, New York Times included an editorial headed, "Primates Aren't Pets" (pg 26) which supported the Captive Primate Safety Act. Referring to the attack it tells us, "It was also a reminder that primates should not keep other primates as pets."
Nicely put.
You'll find it on line at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/opinion/25wed4.html

Wednesday's Los Angeles Times included an op-ed by primatologist Jane Goodall headed, "Loving Chimps to Death." (Pg 25.) It condemns the entertainment industry for giving us a false and ultimately devastating view of chimpanzees. You'll find it on line at http://tinyurl.com/cc5ugh

An editorial in New York's Newsday, today, Thursday February 26, is headed, "Pass the Primate Act." (Page A34.) You'll find that piece on line at http://tinyurl.com/dhlugr

Please send supportive letters to the editor to any or all of these papers, which have huge circulations. Your letters will help keep the topic alive on the editorial page, and will encourage similarly themed editorials in the papers.
The Los Angeles Times takes letters at letters@latimes.com
The New York Times takes letters at letters@nytimes.com
And New York's Newsday takes letters at letters@newsday.com

Your local paper has probably also covered the issue. Please send a letter there, where you are the most likely to be published. Some of the smaller papers publish close to a hundred percent of the letters they receive. So why not write on behalf of the animals?

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published. And please be sure not to use any comments or phrases from me or from any other alerts in your letters. Editors are looking for original responses from their readers.

Today's New York Times also has a lengthy article, by Joyce Wadler, on the front page of the Home/Style section headed "My Monkey Myself." It spells out, beautifully, the dangers of keeping fellow primates as pets but has little comment on the cruelty to the animals. Perhaps our letters to the editor could get some readers thinking about that. The article is on line at
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/garden/26primates.html
You can send a letter to letters@nytimes.com

Importantly please take just a moment to go to the HSUS legislation page where there is plenty of information about the Captive Primate Safety Act and from which you can send a letter to you senators urging them to support the legislation.
Go to: https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2009_primates_pets3

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read reviews and see a fun celeb-studded video and an NBC news piece on Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals," which was chosen by the Washington Post as one of the "Best Books of 2008."